Sub-1 GHz Flexible Concealed Rectenna Yarn for High-Efficiency Wireless-Powered Electronic Textiles

Wagih, M. , Weddell, A. S. and Beeby, S. (2020) Sub-1 GHz Flexible Concealed Rectenna Yarn for High-Efficiency Wireless-Powered Electronic Textiles. In: 2020 14th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP), Copenhagen, Denmark, 15-20 Mar 2020, ISBN 9788831299008 (doi: 10.23919/EuCAP48036.2020.9136041)

Abstract

Electronic textiles and seamlessly integrated flexible wearable electronics are an emerging platform for sensing and computing. Batteries and energy harvesters relying on specific materials and transducers are not fully compatible with e-textiles fabrication and large-scale manufacturing. This work proposes a radio frequency energy harvesting rectenna, operating in the sub- 1 GHz license-free band, packaged in the form a of rectenna yarn which can be concealed in standard textile weaves. The rectenna yarn is fabricated using thin polyimide copper laminates using photolithography. The rectenna is composed of a 50Ω meander- line coplanar waveguide monopole antenna and a voltage doubler rectifier, with a lumped matching network. The rectenna achieves 65.8% RF-DC efficiency and a 8.0-V DC output at 6 and 11 dBm input power, respectively. This is the highest voltage output of a textile wearable rectenna, while maintaining high efficiency down to 20 dBm and a 7 dBm 1-V sensitivity.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the European Commission through the project EnABLES: European Infrastructure Powering the Internet of Things, funded under H2020-EU.1.4.1.2.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Wagih, Dr Mahmoud
• Authors: Wagih, M., Weddell, A. S., and Beeby, S.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• Journal Name: 2020 14th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP)
• Publisher: IEEE
• ISBN: 9788831299008